Forthright
The tragic death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode is yet another reminder of how quickly a campus tragedy can become a battleground of competing narratives. Wakode was reportedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination on September 18. Hours later, he was found dead. His family subsequently alleged caste-based discrimination and mental…
Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” in Indore was billed as an outreach to students and an occasion to put their concerns—education, examination irregularities, recruitment and unemployment—at the centre of political debate. Yet, as the event unfolded, politics and entertainment appeared to compete with the very issues the programme was expected to highlight. The most contentious…
For decades, Bharat’s inability to design and manufacture a powerful indigenous aircraft engine has been cited by critics as proof of the limits of its defence-industrial capability. The Kaveri story, however, is beginning to tell a very different tale. The pessimists may have had plenty of ammunition in the past. Kaveri did not meet the…
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement is already facing its first serious credibility test—and Pakistan appears to be quietly backing away from the very commitment it so loudly celebrated. Signed on August 7 by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye in Makkah, the agreement declares that an armed attack against one of the three countries shall be…
Has better sense finally prevailed on US President Donald Trump? President Donald Trump’s latest pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop attacking Russian oil refineries and diesel infrastructure may represent more than a tactical intervention in the Russia-Ukraine war. It reflects a growing realisation in Washington that wars fought thousands of miles away can…
Yesterday it was the G20. Today it is SAARC. Tomorrow it could be another global grouping where Bharat is not merely a participant but a power shaping the conversation. This is not diplomatic coincidence. It is the visible outcome of a fundamental transformation in Bharat’s foreign policy. The secret is simple: Bharat no longer picks…
The much-hyped “Gen Z movement” built around social-media theatrics has suffered a potentially devastating credibility blow. The arrest of nine persons, including four juveniles, by the Punjab Police in connection with two alleged ISI-backed cross-border terror modules raises questions that the self-proclaimed champions of a so-called youth uprising cannot simply wish away. The police have…
There is a point at which journalism ceases to be journalism and becomes theatre. The latest controversy surrounding Amruta Fadnavis is a classic example of how an innocuous or legitimate statement can be stretched, twisted and packaged into a political controversy that was never really there. Of late, sections of the English-language media appear increasingly…
There is nothing wrong with questioning the outcomes of foreign policy. In fact, a healthy democracy must encourage such scrutiny. But when a senior Congress leader like P. Chidambaram, a former Finance and Home Minister, publicly asks what tangible benefits Bharat has derived from BRICS, the timing and tone of the criticism deserve to be…
There is a disturbing new trend in Bharat’s television journalism: when facts do not fit a preferred narrative, facts are simply shouted down. The Matthew Aaron VanDyke case is the latest example of how television journalism can become dangerously irresponsible when sensationalism overtakes verification. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made its position clear. It…
